Word: silicon
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...reaction performed by Mazur’s graduate student accidentally created black silicon, a semiconductor that is ultra-sensitive to light and may have application in devices from night-vision goggles to photovoltaic solar panels...
...graduate student who was performing the experiment, Tsing-Hua Her, noticed immediately that something was amiss when he combined the silicon with halogen gas: the silicon had turned black, but the material couldn’t have been burned, since there was no oxygen present in the chamber. Under the microscope, Her and Mazur saw, the surface of the wafers displayed a forest of tiny spikes...
...black silicon had phenomenal light absorption sensitivity in both the visible and infrared regions, according to Mazur. By contrast, normal silicon does not readily absorb infrared light...
...high light sensitivity of a detector like black silicon could allow patients to be subjected to less radiation during medical imaging, allowing physicians to produce better images with less damage to the patient’s health. Similarly, digital cameras with more sensitive lenses could capture better quality images in low-light situations, and the technology might enable the development of a cheap and effective night-vision device...
...discovery could also allow for more efficient solar cells, since using black silicon would allow panels to harness a broader spectrum of light...